News/Commentary

Dems are shelling out big bucks for ‘influencers’ to trash Trump, regurgitate ‘scripted’ talking points

August 8, 2024 | | Print Article

Democrats are “deploying a fleet of influencers” on social media to trash former President Donald Trump, according to a report that reveals the financial rewards for participants.

CBS News reports that “Democratic organizations are flooding the creator community with cash and providing behind-the-scenes access” in an effort to court younger voters and affect political messaging,

Awa Sanneh, a 23-year-old social media influencer was featured in the report as one of many who were hired to make anti-Trump videos and post videos with pro-Democratic talking points.

Sanneh was part of a group of influencers who were invited to the White House to watch the State of the Union address and meet President Biden. She recounted what happened next.

“They started inviting me to their White House briefings on abortion rights, reproductive rights,” she said.

(Video Credit: CBS Mornings)

“We just have to be working with them. And if we’re not, we’re missing a huge way that voters are getting information about the world,” said Rob Flaherty, who runs digital strategy for Vice President Kamala Harris’s new presidential campaign.

‘We give them talking points, resources, base language, you know, graphics that they could repurpose or lift,” he said.

The campaign reportedly does not directly pay the influencers but CBS News noted that they “found a constellation of other Democratic political organizations that do.”

“Sanneh said she was hired last month by Protect Our Care, a progressive advocacy group that relies on anonymous donors. She made a video warning about Trump’s second term agenda that she says the group helped her script,” the report noted.

“A video just for a creator in my size, an average can go from $3,000 to $10,000 and upwards,”  Sanneh said, adding that she and other influencers have been invited to attend this month’s Democrat National Convention.

“They just told us that if we wanted to put on our own show that they would give us all the resources to do that,” Sanneh said.

Panels with titles like “Gaming The Algorithm” and “How Advocacy Can Benefit Your Business” have been held by Future Forward, the super PAC backing Harris as the methods have spread.

“When it comes to hawking commercial products or sharing financial advice, federal rules require influencers to disclose when they are being paid. But in a rulemaking last December, the Federal Election Commission voted against similar requirements for influencers spreading political messaging,” CBS News reported.

Social media users had plenty of impassioned reactions.

Frieda Powers
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